Whitney Houston’s $40,000 Wedding Gown and Other Items Up for Auction
Those of you who are devout Whitney Houston fans, this auction might be for you. The late pop icon's $40,000 wedding gown and other precious mementos are being auctioned by her estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 24 and 25. In total, over 119 other personal items belonging to Houton will be available to the highest bidder.
Among the items being put on the auction block is Houston's custom-made, high neck, ivory satin Marc Bouwer wedding dress, which contains a built-in "Carnival" bodice when she wed singer Bobby Brown in 1992. The hem reportedly has some scuff marks and the veil has a small hole in it, but that shouldn't stop it from earning top dollar at the auction.
E! News reports the outfit comes with a pair of matching satin sleeves, a matching beaded and sequined satin cloche hat and a floor-length sheer white silk veil decorated with semi-round pearlescent beads.
The winning bidder will also get a color photo of Whitney in the gown, as well as a certificate of authenticity. The opening bid starts at $3,500, although Vanity Fair reports it was originally worth $40,000.
Everything from statuettes to clothing will also be sold by Heritage Auctions, items which span her entire career.
"[It's] basically a retrospective of Whitney from the beginning, from when she first started singing after she left being a background singer for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls," Garry Shrum, director of Entertainment and Music Memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, told Billboard. "We have her passport from the beginning, all these various awards and outfits, all kinds of cool and groovy things."